‘Darlings of the West beating gays in Kiev’

nterior Ministry members stand guard as activists take part in the so-called Equality March, organized by a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, in Kiev, Ukraine, June 6, 2015. (Reuters) / Reuters

Not just gays but Ukrainians from all walks of life are not enjoying their living standards and human rights, said political analyst Alexander Pavic. The exceptions are those at the top of the structures that caused the Maidan revolution, he added.

The gay pride march in
Kiev ended shortly after it started on Saturday. Participants in
KyivPride2015 were attacked by about forty people, including
members of the radical Right Sector group, who hurled smoke bombs
and stones at the march. Some arrests were made, and five
policemen were injured in scuffles.

RT:The attackers were radicals
from the Right Sector, a group at the forefront of the 2014
revolution, which in part aimed to bring about liberal reforms,
including a better life for the gay community. What does that say
about where Ukraine society is right now?

Alexander Pavic: What it says is that after the
Maidan of 2013 nobody in Ukraine is really enjoying a better life
- except people at the very top of the organizations and
structures that caused the Maidan revolution. I think not just
gay people in Ukraine, but almost everyone from all walks of
life, if they look at their lives today and year and a half ago;
they cannot but notice a big decline in their living standards
and even their human rights. A year and a half ago no one was in
danger of being conscripted to go to war. Today everyone is in
that sort of danger; there is no end in sight. In actuality, the
darlings of the West are beating up the gays in Kiev.

RT:What sorts of response are you expecting
from the West given what happened on Saturday?

AP: Judging by the previous record of the West
they kind to tend to ignore these kinds of things. I’m sure there
will be pro forma, protest etc. Usually they don’t make too much
pressure on their allies, and they do need Right Sector. They’ve
allowed Right Sector to integrate with the Ukrainian national
army. You have US army officers training units with members of
Right Sector in them. So, yes, in public there will be some
criticism; fundamentally; nothing is going to change because they
need these people to keep Ukraine in the Western orbit -
unfortunately for everyone.

RT:What about Ukraine's hopes for
membership to the EU? From what you’ve described the values at
the moment in Ukrainian society seems to be very far away from
what required in order to gain EU membership, doesn’t it?

AP: Absolutely. Ukraine, even under the hated
[Viktor] Yanukovich regime, which was overthrown in Maidan, was
much closer to the European so-called way of life and Western way
of life than today’s Ukraine of Poroshenko and Right Sector, etc.
People at least had peace, they had some hope of economic
advancement, they had offers from both West and East.
Unfortunately, the Western part of the world wasn’t happy about
the offers coming from Russia and the East. So now today nobody’s
living better and Western help isn’t forthcoming either. I think
the average Ukrainian can feel it under his skin.

RT:What has to change in Ukraine for them
to get closer to Europe?

AP: First of all, you don’t have a really
democratic system. Since Maidan was organized in 2013 you
practically have an oligarchic regime in Ukraine. It is really
not a democratic regime and it’s because you excluded a large
segment of the population from effectively having a sane
political life. If you were to include everyone in Ukraine: those
for pro-Russian, those for pro-Western, and those who are
neutral, that is the only way that you can really have any
semblance of a society. Unfortunately, anything pro-Eastern,
pro-Russian, even neutral is being almost demonized and
marginalized. As a result, you don’t have a balance in society
and in Ukrainian politics.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.